Boston College stuns Syracuse

Patrick Heckmann’s layup with 46 seconds to play in overtime gave Boston College the lead for good in a stunning, 62-59 road victory over Associated Press No. 1 and previously-unbeaten Syracuse.

Syracuse, which fell to 25-1 overall in losing for the first time in 13 Atlantic Coast Conference games, went up 57-56 when Tyler Ennis made 1 of 2 free throws with 1:12 left. Ryan Anderson found Heckmann 26 seconds later and Lonnie Jackson’s 4-for-4 trip to the free-throw line helped seal the Eagles’ first victory at the Carrier Dome since March 2002.

With Syracuse joining the ACC this season, the teams are once again conference foes. They were both in the Big East when they last got together in Syracuse, a 96-73 win by the Orange in January 2004.

Boston College (7-19, 3-10) trailed by as much as 13 points in the second half before storming back to force overtime. A 33-20 Syracuse lead later turned into a 50-50 tie when Olivier Hanlan (team-high 20 points) converted a layup with 47 seconds left in regulation. Syracuse had two chances to win at the end of the half, but both Ennis and Rakeem Christmas missed shots over the final 30 seconds.

C.J. Fair led the Orange, who shot just 32 percent from the field, with 20 points. Boston College came into the game fourth in the ACC in three-point shooting, then made 11 of 22, including 4 of 9 from Hanlan and 3 of 4 from Joe Rahon.

A look at the rest of Wednesday’s SEC and ACC action …

No. 2 Florida 71, Auburn 66

The Gators made 5 of 6 free throws over the final 20 seconds to avoid the home upset and remain unbeaten in league play. Southeastern Conference leading scorer Chris Denson, who finished with 15 points, had made 1 of 2 free throws with 21 seconds to play, pulling Auburn even at 66-66.

After Patric Young was 2 of 2 from the line for the last of his game-high 17 points to put Florida (24-2, 13-0 SEC) ahead 68-66, Allen Payne had a turnover at the other end and Scottie Wilbekin (15 points) hit two more charity shots to help the Gators hold on.

Auburn (12-12, 4-9), which was led by Tahj Shamsid-Deen’s 17 points, lost on the road in the series for the ninth consecutive time, last winning in Gainesville in February, 1996.

Casey Prather was 6-of-8 shooting to add 16 points for the Gators, who extended their winning streak to 18 games.

LSU 92, Mississippi State 81

On a night where both teams shot the ball extremely well, the host Tigers had five in double figures to snap a brief, two-game losing streak.

Freshman Jarell Martin scored a career-high 20 points and fellow first-year player Jordan Mickey added 19 for LSU (16-9, 7-6 Southeastern Conference), which connected on 30 of its 59 field goal attempts in winning its sixth consecutive home conference game.

Mississippi State (13-13, 3-10) knocked down half of its 52 shots, including sophomore Craig Sword’s 11 of 16, career-high 33-point performance, but the reeling Bulldogs still dropped their seventh straight game overall and fell to 0-8 in true road games.

Miami 71, Notre Dame 64

Rion Brown scored 21 points and the Hurricanes finally won a conference home game.

Garrius Adams added 14 points and reserve Davon Reed, 12 for Miami (13-13, 4-9 Atlantic Coast Conference), which had lost its first five ACC games at BankUnited Center.

Notre Dame (14-13, 5-9) trailed by as much as 15 points, but got to within 63-62 on a 3-pointer by Steve Vasturia with 36 seconds remaining in the game. Demetrius Jackson’s lay up 14 seconds later kept it a one-point game at 65-64 for the Fighting Irish, but Miami, which was a perfect 10-for-10 from the free-throw line in the second half, was 8 of 8 from the stripe over the final 30 seconds.

Pat Connaughton had a season-high 22 points to lead the visitors from South Bend.

Arkansas 74, South Carolina 64

The Razorbacks overcame a huge night from Brenton Williams to win for the fourth time in five games.

Williams scored 29 points for the second time this month, hitting 11 of his 20 shot attempts. But the rest of the Gamecocks (10-16, 3-10 SEC) were just 11-of-39 from the field, including a 3-of-21 combined performance from Williams’ back court mates Sindarius Thornwell and Duane Notice.

Arkansas (17-9, 6-7) was held to 37 percent shooting by a South Carolina team that came into the night 13th in the SEC in field goal percentage defense. Michael Qualls was the exception (7 of 14) for the Razorbacks, collecting a team-high 20 points.

Missouri 67, Vanderbilt 64

Jordan Clarkson’s 21 points, which included an 11 for 11 night at the free-throw line, helped the Tigers hang on for their third straight victory. Earnest Ross added 16 points on 4-of-8 shooting from three-point range for Missouri (19-7, 7-6 SEC).

Damian Jones had 19 points to lead the Commodores (14-11, 6-7), who in their last four games have defeated Texas A&M by three in overtime and lost three other games by a total of 11 points.